1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an automated control system and method that furnishes viewers with individualized automated editing and retrieval capabilities over the contents and length of a variable content video program in order to produce a transparently continuous and complete show. The system capabilities include an automated flexible control system design that enables an operator to selectively apply different editing criteria to the variety of subject matters that may be contained within the program. The system controls also include an automated capability for efficiently previewing program scenes of pre-identified categories and classes of subject matter and a capability for determining their inclusion in the program seen by the viewer.
Finally, the control system provide a keyword/menu segment/program retrieval facility from an existing program and program database, and a requesting capability for programs to be produced according to viewer-specified requirements.
2. Background of the Prior Art
Artistic expression in films often surrender to the requirements of marketing and other forms of censorship, both subtle and obvious. Individual viewers once they elect to view a program, subject themselves to the results of this censorship or lack thereof.
One form of industry censorship is content rating which is a label attributed to each film by the Motion Picture Association of America ("MPAA"). The label serves as a broad generalized guide for the public as to the overall level of "objectionable" content, as the MPAA defines various types of content that may be included in a movie. In the MPAA published booklet "The Voluntary Movie Rating System", the MPAA spells out the purpose of the rating system: "if you are 17 or over, or if you have no children, the rating system has no meaning for you. Ratings are meant for parents, no one else." Accordingly, the rating system used by the MPAA has adopted a generalized structure that has inherent limitations since it admittedly has ignored the varying sensibilities and tastes among different adults e.g. non-parents, young adults, or senior citizens. The rating system is thus inadequate for a large portion of the viewing public. Nonetheless, any reviews that may have been obtained, the public must elect the option of viewing the film or not. Having decided to do so, the viewer, must accept the content of the film in its entirety.
User content requirements may also include the knowledge level required to view the program, its level of detail and complexity such as would be the case in educational programs. In programs that include a number of segments such as is generally the case with news programs, there is no choice provided to the user as to the viewing of only the user specified program segments. Similarly, while the viewer has the option to truncate the length of a program by either terminating viewing the program, or if recorded to fast-forward certain scenes, there is no option of receiving a program at a user specified length.
Presently, all form of viewer editing, such as permitted by the use of a VCR, requires the interactive participation of the viewer and some knowledge as to the location of the scene in question.
Many methods and systems found in the prior art do not incorporate current basic technology and methods to produce an automatic viewer editing capability that produces a transparently complete program.
For example, the patent to Von Kohorn, U.S. Pat. No. 4,520,404, discloses a remote recording and editing system. In particular, the invention discloses an editing system whose functions include the activation or deactivation of a television receiver and a recording apparatus by the transmission of control or editing command signals, generated from a central station where an operator monitors a broadcast transmission. The receiver and recorders in a viewer's home are provided with inhibiting circuitry that respond to the transmitted control signals from the central station to prevent the re-broadcast or recording of unwanted material in the home.
The patent to Chard, U.S. Pat. No. 4,605,964, discloses a television controller that utilizes coding for identifying and automatically deleting undesirable sound and visual events broadcast with a program. The content signals associated with Chard also teaches that undesirable events are graded to permit editing according to personal taste.
Also, the patent to Olivo, Jr., U.S. Pat. No. 4,888,796, discloses a screening device capable of automatically disabling the TV or video receiving device in response to the receiver's recognition of a non-interfering material content signal co-transmitted with the program signals.
However, Von Kohorn, Chard, and Olivo, have various drawbacks. The material content signal may only be applied to portions of a program signal, in order to edit out only the objectionable parts of a program. Thus by disabling the replay of segments of the program material, these methods ignore the fact that dead segments would result from the edited out segments. Also, while Chard suggests setting grading levels independently for sound (four levels) and vision (four levels), it does not teach providing grading levels for a variety of subject matters. Additionally, while Olivo, illustrates incorporating the rating structure provided by the MPAA for the programs, and suggesting that different material content signals can distinguish between different forms of subject matter, it does not teach using a number of different ratings for each class of subject matter. In this regard, Vogel's disclosure of three broad classifications (advertisement, non-program material, restricted) does not enhance Olivo. The above teachings therefore together show a method whose rating structure is based on the MPAA rating system applied to different subject matters. However, as previously discussed, the MPAA rating system was designed and intended as an overall program guide for parents. The MPAA rating system does not by, deliberate design, address segment specific subject matter information that is required to provide adults with a highly discriminatory control over the content of segments contained within the selected program.
The patent to Vogel, U.S. Pat. No. 4,930,160, addresses the above deficiency by providing a facility for displaying alternative material during the dead segments. The alternative material selected during censorship periods can originate from a remote source, for example, another television broadcast, or locally, for example, from a video disk or tape player. The local source may also simply be a black signal generator which essentially reproduces the same drawback noted above. An alternate source to a dead segment may also be provided by the system disclosed in Boyd et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,023,727. Boyd teaches a method for forming a substantially continuous composite video signal by combining a video segment received from a video signal with a video segment produced from digital data.
The patent to Lindstrom, U.S. Pat. No. 5,060,068, discloses an optical laser disc based broadcasting method and system wherein promotional segments of a program are played from the same source recordings as the program itself. Lindstrom discloses utilizing at least two disc players in timed synchronization to generate a transparently continuous video signal.
The patent to Kiesel, U.S. Pat. No. 4,729,044, discloses a plurality of video tape recorders that similarly provide for continuous replay without the need for creating a master tape.
Neither Lindstrom nor Kiesel however teach a single player that can provide transparently continuous video signals, nor do these references suggest utilizing a control system that provides a variety of different and complete edited versions of the same program obtained from the same single source recording.
Neither Boyd nor Vogel, however, provide a system that creates, from a single source, a viewer-edited transparently continuous and harmonious program that replaces a dead segment with other parts of the same program.
Generally, to the extent that the above patents act to censor a video program they direct themselves to providing viewer control over the form of the expression. This is in contrast to those patents, that provide viewers the means to participate, and thereby affect, the program's story lines or plot. An example of the latter type of patent is Best, U.S. Pat. No. 4,569,026. Which discloses a video entertainment system where human viewers conduct simulated voice conversations with screen actors or cartoon characters in a branching story game shown on a television screen. Best is further characterized by the interactive nature of viewer participation, since at frequent points in the game the system presents the viewer with two or more alternatives. Is the interactive participation of the viewer that sustains the logical progression of the game. As many games are directed at children, and are educational in nature, or contain primitive subject matter, they have not dealt with issues raised by the more complex adult forms of expression inherent in contemporary films. Games have provided setup editing capabilities (selection of: level of difficulty, character, weapons, etc.), not censoring editing capabilities.
The present art thus fails to suggest combining interactive and set up capabilities, automated editing capabilities, and directing capabilities to provide the user with control over a program's story line, content, and form of expression.
The patent to Freeman, U.S. Pat. No. 4,573,072, discloses a method for expanding interactive CATV displayable choices for a given channel capacity. The preferred embodiment of the invention includes a program segment stacking method and a subscriber profile utilized to transmit one of a plurality of the stacked program segments. The subscriber's selection profile disclosed therein is demographic in character and can be changed from the head end of the transmission, and not editorial and controlled by the viewer. Further, the method of Freeman teaches that the stacked segments beginning at any one moment of time to be of equal duration to restore the transmission to the common prerecorded television message. This structure, which serves Freeman's objectives of tailoring advertising to the demographics of the viewer, is inferior to a variable length stacking structure that would provide far superior tailoring of the program content.
The patent to Bohn, U.S. Pat. No. 4,888,638, shows a market research system for substituting stored television programs for regularly scheduled, broadcast television programs having a particular identification code wherein the substitute television programs may be transmitted via telephone lines to the households of cooperating panelists for storage. The operational difference between Freeman and Bohn is the method of transmitting the alternate advertising segment to the viewer. In Freeman different advertising segments are contemporaneously transmitted during the broadcast of the program, while in Bohn differing advertising segments are transmitted prior to the broadcast of the program. Bohn teaches the use of a laser disc to store the substitute television advertising. Based on the identification code contained in the broadcast program a controller may substitute the broadcasted advertisement.
The patent to Skutta, U.S. Pat. No. 5,055,924, discloses a method for the remote-controlled replacement of a TV advertising spot by another advertising spot for a new product to be tested.
The teachings of the above references would not furnish a system that provides each viewer with automated non-previewed control over the program content from a single program source by a single device that generates a transparently seamless program matching the viewers preestablished content requirements. Among the additional elements and enhancements required by such a system would be producing and providing coherent parallel and overlapping program segments. Some of these parallel segments differ only in the form of expression (i.e. explicitness) of a given scene.
The patent to Hashimoto, U.S. Pat. No. 4,745,549, discloses a method of generating an individualized listing of programs that meet an individual viewers stated program preferences. This is accomplished on the basis of a generalized survey of a viewers program classification preferences and viewer response to the list selected.
The patent to Hallenbeck, U.S. Pat. No. 5,038,211, relates to television (TV) program schedule guides and in particular to a method and apparatus for efficiently transmitting, receiving and storing television program schedule information. In Hallenbeck, schedule information is retained that meets predetermined selection criteria to minimize storage and processing requirements.
The above patents do not suggest viewer direct selection of a program from a variety of programs by means of a database architecture that would permit keyword and interactive menu searches.
The patent to Monslow, U.S. Pat. No. 4,995,078, teaches a television broadcast system using land lines for the real time transmission of a viewer chosen program. The patent to Way, U.S. Pat. No. 4,891,694, is entitled "Fiber optic cable television distribution system". The patent to Walter, U.S. Pat. No. 4,506,387, discloses a programming on demand fiber optic based system. These patents together with the references cited therein teach a variety of land line and fiber optic transmission of programs with varying degrees of viewer capabilities in the selection of programs. While these do not teach transmission of a variable content program, said works are, incorporated by reference herein to establish that such a transmission is possible and to assist the reader interested in obtaining a more detailed disclosure of the hardware of such systems than is necessary to provide here.